Anthology Poetry GCSE English Literature - Love &
Relationships - Key Quotes, Comparisons and
Concepts for ALL POEMS - Grade 9 Student
Detailed
Key Comparisons From 'Before You Were Mine' - ANSWER-Walking Away/Mother Any
Distance - Can compare distanced family relationships, looking/longing for/to the past
Eden Rock - Can compare distorted presentation of parents and the past (from a child's
perspective) ; both poems use an amalgamation of memory and imagined scenes
Key Quotes From 'Before You Were Mine' - ANSWER-"That glamorous love lasts where
you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine" - Shows the glamour of her
mother's life imagined by the narrator. This quote also shows the narrators desire to
possess even the memories of the mothers past (before you were mine [can talk about
pronouns and possession])
"The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?" - The poet
suggest motherhood can be a burden, especially before the child's 'loud possessive
yell', taking over the excitement of the mother's life
"I remembered my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics" - The mother's red high
heels, her old going-out shoes, symbolize her lost youthful glamour. They appear in the
third stanza, as the speaker shifts from imagined scenes of her mother's youth to an
actual memory of her own childhood.
Key Concepts From 'Before You Were Mine' - ANSWER-This is a poem centred around a
daughter reflecting on her mother's life before she was born, and her life during the
speaker's childhood. It explores an intimate, yet distant, maternal relationship, between
the speaker and her mother.
, Key Comparisons From 'Winter Swans' - ANSWER-Letters From Yorkshire - Both poems
show a continuing relationship, rather than the beginning/end of one. Both focus on
everyday aspects of a relationship.
Neutral Tones - Both use winter imagery to reflect on a relationship. Both depict a
stagnated relationship. However, the issue is overcome in Winter Swans, but not in
Neutral Tones
Key Quotes From 'Winter Swans' - ANSWER-'[The swans were] like boats righting in
rough weather' - This simile foreshadows the reconciliation of the lovers & refers back to
the stormy opening of the poem and turbulence of the relationship.
'Settling after flight' - Present participle 'Settling' shows the continuation of the
relationship, but also how their problems are still settling after 'flight' (which could be a
metaphor for their troubled times). The continuous challenges in a relationship can be
challenging, but the poet states he is comfortable with these challenges now (as shown
through the volta in poem)
'Two days of rain' - Metaphor for challenging times in their relationship, pathetic fallacy.
'As we skirted the lake' - By using the second person pronoun 'we', the speaker makes
the reader feel as though they are intruding on a relationship going through a
challenging time. It makes the poem feel more intimate & neurolinguistically
programmes the reader to feel sympathy for the speaker and his partner. 'Skirted' also
aligns with how the speaker and his partner are skirting/avoiding their problems,
however this post-modifier foreshadows the volta in the poem, the overcoming of the
hardships in the relationship.
Key Concepts From 'Winter Swans' - ANSWER--The whole of this first-personal
autobiographical poem is a metaphor, comparing the speakers romance to that of
swans, in that they mate for life.
-Centres on a couple who are clearly having issues communicating, and are presented
as emotionally separated as the poem opens. He uses a range of poetic devices,
Relationships - Key Quotes, Comparisons and
Concepts for ALL POEMS - Grade 9 Student
Detailed
Key Comparisons From 'Before You Were Mine' - ANSWER-Walking Away/Mother Any
Distance - Can compare distanced family relationships, looking/longing for/to the past
Eden Rock - Can compare distorted presentation of parents and the past (from a child's
perspective) ; both poems use an amalgamation of memory and imagined scenes
Key Quotes From 'Before You Were Mine' - ANSWER-"That glamorous love lasts where
you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine" - Shows the glamour of her
mother's life imagined by the narrator. This quote also shows the narrators desire to
possess even the memories of the mothers past (before you were mine [can talk about
pronouns and possession])
"The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?" - The poet
suggest motherhood can be a burden, especially before the child's 'loud possessive
yell', taking over the excitement of the mother's life
"I remembered my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics" - The mother's red high
heels, her old going-out shoes, symbolize her lost youthful glamour. They appear in the
third stanza, as the speaker shifts from imagined scenes of her mother's youth to an
actual memory of her own childhood.
Key Concepts From 'Before You Were Mine' - ANSWER-This is a poem centred around a
daughter reflecting on her mother's life before she was born, and her life during the
speaker's childhood. It explores an intimate, yet distant, maternal relationship, between
the speaker and her mother.
, Key Comparisons From 'Winter Swans' - ANSWER-Letters From Yorkshire - Both poems
show a continuing relationship, rather than the beginning/end of one. Both focus on
everyday aspects of a relationship.
Neutral Tones - Both use winter imagery to reflect on a relationship. Both depict a
stagnated relationship. However, the issue is overcome in Winter Swans, but not in
Neutral Tones
Key Quotes From 'Winter Swans' - ANSWER-'[The swans were] like boats righting in
rough weather' - This simile foreshadows the reconciliation of the lovers & refers back to
the stormy opening of the poem and turbulence of the relationship.
'Settling after flight' - Present participle 'Settling' shows the continuation of the
relationship, but also how their problems are still settling after 'flight' (which could be a
metaphor for their troubled times). The continuous challenges in a relationship can be
challenging, but the poet states he is comfortable with these challenges now (as shown
through the volta in poem)
'Two days of rain' - Metaphor for challenging times in their relationship, pathetic fallacy.
'As we skirted the lake' - By using the second person pronoun 'we', the speaker makes
the reader feel as though they are intruding on a relationship going through a
challenging time. It makes the poem feel more intimate & neurolinguistically
programmes the reader to feel sympathy for the speaker and his partner. 'Skirted' also
aligns with how the speaker and his partner are skirting/avoiding their problems,
however this post-modifier foreshadows the volta in the poem, the overcoming of the
hardships in the relationship.
Key Concepts From 'Winter Swans' - ANSWER--The whole of this first-personal
autobiographical poem is a metaphor, comparing the speakers romance to that of
swans, in that they mate for life.
-Centres on a couple who are clearly having issues communicating, and are presented
as emotionally separated as the poem opens. He uses a range of poetic devices,
